My husband decided yesterday that he wants a divorce. He has not really worked during our marriage. Dose this mean I will have to pay his lazy but SS? We have a son together and theirs no way that I could pay for two sets of bills. (I will be the CP, he doesn't want to be a dad anymore) I really don't want to have to give him my 401k or half of my retirement. I worked hard for what I have. Honestly I don't want to end this marriage but I can't keep him if he does not want me. If I file first will that help me any?

You might want to post this on the spousal support board. It's more active then this one and they can give you an idea of whether you'll be paying SS. A lot of it depends on how long you've been married and for how long he's been out of work.

As hippie said, it would depend on marriage length and his work history. You said he hasn't "really" worked. But has he worked at all? What are his reasons for not working the entire time? Those will play a factor. If he's able-bodied and just skips around jobs, he wouldn't really have a good chance at any support.

Secondly, unless the marriage has been over 5 years, it's also unlikely he'd get support. Some states won't even consider it for marriages under 10 years. Whomever files first won't make a difference in that issue.

As for the retirement, you will likely have to give him part of it. It would usually be half of whatever was accured during the marriage only, not what you had prior. But in the same sense, if he had any retirement investments, those would also be shared. Again, it depends on the state, but most often those assets are split.